USB 3.0 exteral HD enclosures

dryfly

Member
Dec 6, 2009
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In checking USB 3.0 external HD enclosures on Newegg's website, it looks as if the ratings are all over the chart. Seems like about one third of the buyers of any brand have problems. What's the deal?

I know most all good quality USB 2.0 enclosures present no problem although the speed is somewhat lacking. I'm in the market to buy one but wondering if 3.0 is just too immature at this point. Reliability is much more important than speed to me but looks as if USB 3.0 will eventually take over the market.
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
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Eventually is a good word. In the meantime, I will stick with my eSATA externals. They are very reliable, and USB 3 does not present any significant advantage.
 

samboy

Senior member
Aug 17, 2002
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eSata is a good choice as long as you are dealing with single drive enclosures and performance advantage would lean the eSata way since it is effectively a native pass though.

I would avoid eSata multi-drive enclosures unless they come with a matched/tested eSata interface card as well. Otherwise, multi-port eSata probably won't work......... even if you do buy the correct interface cards with FIS support etc (I found out the hard way).

I'm about to try a USB 3.0 dual dock to see if this works any better............
 

dryfly

Member
Dec 6, 2009
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I'll look into the eSata enclosures. I'm sure I can find this but since I'm here, how do transfer rates compare to USB 2.0 and 3.0? And I will be running this as a single drive arrangement for backup purposes.

I don't put total faith in Newegg's reviews as obviously there are a lot of folks out there that can't even plug in a USB cable properly. However, when you look at one of their reviews with a significant number of reviewers and a large percentage have what sounds like reasonable problems it get your attention.
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
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I only use single drive eSATA enclosures. Transfer rates are about 5X faster than USB 2 - actually comparable to USB 3. Mine are Vantec NexStar 3's. It is hot pluggable, and I can turn 'em on/off any time. I usually keep 'em off unless I want to use them.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
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Get a pre-built external USB 3.0 drives. They are pretty cheap and I think it's not worthwhile to purchase a separate casing which can cause issues as you noted. MicroCenter has 1TB USB 3.0 external for $80 and 2TB for $120. (Samsung, Seagate) I've got myself a 2TB Samsung one for $119 and am satisfied with the performance.
 

Old Hippie

Diamond Member
Oct 8, 2005
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Get a pre-built external USB 3.0 drives. They are pretty cheap and I think it's not worthwhile to purchase a separate casing which can cause issues as you noted.
I would never recommend a prebuilt external drive.

I dunno what you consider worthwhile but my backups are invaluable and well worth the price of admission for a quality case, HDD, and piece of mind that I can T.S. it without losing the warranty.
 

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
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The deal is that pretty much all external enclosures are made cheaply to hit low pricepoints, and the failure rate is high. I've had problems with some USB 2.0/eSATA and USB 3.0 enclosures.

I recently got 2x USB 3.0 2.5" enclosures - an iNeo one and a Bytecc one. The iNeo one still runs like a champ but the Bytecc one crapped out on me after only a few months.
 

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
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Eventually is a good word. In the meantime, I will stick with my eSATA externals. They are very reliable, and USB 3 does not present any significant advantage.

Depends on your perspective. From my point of view, eSATA doesn't present any significant advantage over USB 3.0 and eSATA's achilles heel is that it's not backwards compatible with USB 2.0.

I liked eSATA before USB 3.0 because it was good for a fast external backup drive (as long as you have an eSATA port). Transfer speeds became drive limited, not stuck at the 20-30MB/s peak of USB 2.0.

However, for fixing other people's computers, USB 3.0 is so much more flexible because:

-you only need one cable and it does both data and power
-the speed difference between USB 3.0 and eSATA is negligible - a little more latency and CPU usage on USB, which is moot with modern processors
-USB 3.0 enclosures are backwards compatible with USB 2.0, meaning you can use your same USB 3.0 cable to connect it to just about any PC built in the last 10 years
 

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Are there any (< $35 ?) 3.5" external HD enclosures that include both: USB 3.0 AND eSATA ports?
I have an Azio branded external USB 2.0 + eSATA 3.5" HD enclosure, and might be interested in upgrading.